Sochi 2014: In Pictures and Words

A photo with a little perspective: the flame is bigger than one man by himself.

It's a new day. But not like any new day. Now the Olympic Park in Sochi is probably much quieter, empty almost before the Para Olympians arrive in two weeks' time. The courses in the mountains no longer find themselves lined by cheering spectators.  Stadiums are no longer packed with fans. Days circled on the calendars from many of the best athletes on earth - certain days people have thought about and dreamt upon for probably the 1461 days since Vancouver - have came into the moment, and have now receded into our past.  I am sure I feel certain emotions that are hard to put into words. But I am very proud and humbled to have my fourth and final opportunity to represent Team USA in the Olympic arena as an athlete.

Lara Ski Complex in the Caucasus Mountains of Russia: my latest Mississippi River ride

In the end, I think we are all a bit like Huckleberry Finn. It just so happens that cross country skiing has been my raft and my friend Jim: the instigator of opportunity and adventure. Over these years, I have put what I believe is the whole of myself into this endeavor, full of emotion, sweat, and optimism. I've danced - literally - jigs of joy. I've also had a couple rough rides, as a cyclist friend of mine might say.

A man in the arena: T.J. Oshie on the 8th and deciding overtime penalty shootout try against Team Russia. 

It's kind of funny to look back from time-to-time with the perspective of time. One of very first Olympians I met was a biathlete who competed for the USA in Innsbruck in 1976. He gave me a book he penned. I don't remember much about the book, but I absolutely remember the Teddy Roosevelt quote that ran on the book's back cover. I loved that quote. I loved it so much I wrote it on the backside of my Trapper Keeper that next fall in school. The working title of the words by Mr. Roosevelt are In The Arena, same as the name of the orginazation that I write this blog for. I'm pretty sure this is more than mere coincidence.

Noelle, now that's what I call a jig of joy

In Sochi, I got to see my old track and field teammate at the University of Utah Noelle Pikus-Pace celebrate her silver medal for skeleton in Sochi's medals plaza.

Any color of medal is worth celebrating.

In Sochi, Bettina's best friend Selina Gasparin (right) also won silver that same night. Bettina got to be Selina's guest that night, all the way until Selina walked out on the stage to receive her medal. Bettina said its a memory she'll never forget. Two days later, Bettina would finish seventh. It didn't hurt her, I believe, to take in this night before stepping into the arena herself.

Every second counts: the first 15-hundredths of the women's 500M short track final.

Come and see, and I saw: Meeting people like Siim Sellis and Peeter Kummel of Estonia, spending some hours on the ski trails and rollerskis, chasing efficiency and efficacy are parts of the process of chasing the Olympic dream through four Olympiads is what I will remember most. The trial of miles, the miles of trials, and the friends that are with you along the way.

I guess today, the first day back from Sochi, might be a day of sadness. My third grade teacher wrote me on Martin Luther King Junior's birthday. She said I told the class that same day 25 years earlier that I had a dream, one that involved skiing and the Olympics and following in the footsteps of a man named Bill Koch. But instead of leaning back and looking through the rearview mirror, I'm going to take the words of my two favorite musicians, John Lee Hooker and Van Morrison to heart. Today is not a day to look back to the days of yesteryear. The day has come and gone. 

Final photo from my time in Sochi, following the Closing Ceremonies to the 2014 Games. 

To the best of times. And those that will be. -Torin

sometimes dreams unfold like this

If there was a soundtrack I'm trying to keep on repeat day after day, it's Ice Cube's It Was A Good Day. To re-hear those lyrics laid over or those silky smooth Isley Brothers inspired beats from Footsteps in the Dark press play.




After US Nationals in Soldier Hollow, Utah - the 2002 venue for cross-country, biathlon, and nordic combined non-jumping efforts - I headed back to Washington after a little send-off from my friends from the University of Utah back in Salt Lake City.

Salt Lake at sunset. Not enough snow in the mountains yet!

Getting back to Washington, even if it was for less than a week for the first time since August, felt good. Sometimes I really think back to the Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy clicks her heals three times and says, "There's no place like home." Because there really is no place like home.

One of the reasons to head to Washington was to visit my In The Arena class. I grew up with the teacher Carl Haberberger so it was especially cool to see how much of a command he had over the students. You could tell the kids respected him, and gave him as much attention as 6th graders could be expected to.

A much more digital classroom than I remember back in middle school!

The kids were pretty savvy with computers and technology. After I left, several of the kids sent me posters they made for a class assignment. Check them out. I particularly like the one that reads, "Torin Koos Olympics Beast." Hitting Beastmode on the trails of Sochi would be the culmination of a dream, for sure.

After a week filled with long but easy morning and evening training sessions, visits to Orchard Middle School, and mom's home cooking, I headed back to Switzerland. I cashed in the frequent flyer miles in a bit of blind faith that I would get the call to represent Team USA at the Sochi Olympics. And if I did get that call, I owed it to myself, to my supporters, and to those not chosen to the team to represent as best I can in Russia. For me, that meant getting back to a closer time zone as Russia, at a similar altitude, and with the opportunity to train with many of the athletes that I have all fall and winter, and that I will see in Sochi, now as part of the Swiss Olympic Team. 

Until the next time. 

                -Torin

Scenes and Stories from the Road: SoHo 2014 Edition

For the second year in a row, the USA cross country racing community descended upon the city of Midway, Utah and the SoHo 2002 Olympic trails for the US Championships. These four races were the last races to count for the selection of Team USA for the 2014 Sochi, the keenness and performance of the competitors was plenty high. Fortunately, it was a very big banner week for the athletes of In The Arena. Brian Gregg picked up (I believe) his first US Nationals podium. Sylvan Ellefson broke apart the 30km field and held on for his first US National title, Caitlin Gregg absolutely crushed the women's field (winning by 3:36) in the skate distance (in addition to two other podium finishes), and I picked up my eighth national title in the sprint discipline in winning the skate sprint. 

I'm sure there are plenty of stories from each of these performances, and I can't wait to read about what they all have to say about experiences.

Fortunately, in the skate sprint I was able to stay out of trouble, even with the tightly contested races on a very fast course. Here, I lead going into the final corner as Dakota Blackhorse-von Jess tries a risky slingshot from third position and trips himself up on the tails of my skis. My day started out with its own bit of misfortune, breaking a pole strap in the qualification round. I held on tight, and made sure I qualified. I knew after this that the rest of the day would go better.

The classic sprint day brought the convergence of two tropical storms to the west side of the Wasatch mountains. With fresh snow glazing throughout the day, I had a hard time making my skis work in the conditions and missed the A-final in a national classic sprint for the first time ever. It's a little dissapointing to end my racing days on the trails of Soldier Hollow this way -- though I know I put everything I had out on the race course, and the crew at Bridger Ski Foundation were working hard and pulling for Jennie Bender and myself to earn a trip to Sochi. I honestly think I have more kilometers racing on these trails than anyone, starting way back in 1999 with the University of Utah Utes, to the 2001 Pre-Olympics, the 2002 Olympics, a NCAA National Championship, and my four US National Championships here this week. As a skier, SoHo feels like the closest thing to my own Hayward Field of Fenway Park.

Now, I guess the Olympic waiting game begins. The USA cross-country contingent won't be named until January 22, 2014. If you want to read about how the team will be selected, you can find the official selection procedure here. It seems pretty complicated, so I won't even take a try at trying to explain it!

I am really looking forward to tomorrow, when I finally get to get back into the classroom with Mr. Haberberger's 5th graders on Monday. I'm interested to see what they have been up. I think I should have a few stories to tell them as well. I've been away from Washington for so long (almost four months) that getting back to the Evergreen state feels like, well, home.

Home. Almost.

Not Quite There. Yet.

After some days and some illness in the north country of Scandinavia, it was fortunately time to head back to Davos, Switzerland. The trip to Norway wasn't totally without redemption, as a top-10 in the Norwegian Cup got me some World Cup starts in Davos and Asiago, Italy. Sometimes the north can be nice, but this time I was not sad to leave at all.

With the approaching days, I would recover and get in a handful of good training sessions.

Here's one of those days, in bluebird conditions with the Estonian sprinters and the Swiss Power Sprint team. Here, we are getting ready for an impromptu prologue as part of a Wednesday form-sharpening workout. I felt great, and thought I was ready for the big race over the weekend. I'm missing the shape, and maybe more the right feeling at the moment, though. On Sunday, I missed racing in the rounds by just under 2 seconds. It's not an incredible amount, but in this game every second -- or every hundredth of a second -- counts. My flatmate Mauro Gruber missed scoring his first-ever World Cup points by the smallest of margins, one one-hundredth of a second.

Fortunately, I get one more weekend of chances in Asiago to demonstrate what I've been working on and perfecting all these days, months, and years. This picture of an eagle's impression captured in the snow shows what I look to do next time, be an opportunist with the opportunities I get. 

After Davos, Before Beitostolen

The old steam train rolling up from Realp (SUI) into the Furka Pass.

If the days haven't been totally packed since the last time catching up on the training preparations from the glacier environment of Ramsau am Dachstein, the days have been satisfying. After Austria, I headed back to Davos, Switzerland with the leading edge sprinters of Switzerland. I was soon joined again by the Estonian sprint team in Davos, in addition to both the sprinters and all-arounders of Switzerland. It's been nothing less than incredible to spend the fall with Bettina here, to get to know some longtime competitors on a more personal level, then knock heads in the heavy training days.

File photo, from Seizer Alm, Italy.

The snow came, if ever so lightly. Fortunately, SwissSki harvest the spring snow in the Fluela Valley, then cover the white stuff with tarps and sawdust over the summer months. When the calendar turned to November, a 1.5 kilometer track opened on the top of the Davos World Cup track. Maybe its the new impulse of getting to glide on snow, or the early years running track and field, but I didn't mind putting in lap after lap on the harvest snow loop. The terrain was perfect for remembering how to push and corner and carry speed between transitions, though a little too heavy for double-ski training days. 

Unfortunately, on the day I left for Norway, the defending Olympic and World Champion from Switzerland Dario Cologna tore three ligaments in his foot just after leaving his house for a night run. Dario was in great condition, and is a true professional athlete. It's never good to see someone like Dario meet such misfortune. I really hope the healing goes well, and we can see Dario at his best in Sochi. 

Photo stolen from the FB.

The last days I've been kicking it in the small neighborhood of Asmarka, near the ski town (and 1994 Olympic city) of Lillehammer, Norway. Its been great to meet up with my old friends of Team Sjusjoen. Petter Hagen has been making delicious meals, but I'm pretty psyched to leave mid-week next week to the opening races. I'll do my best to provide the story behind the story soon after, so check back next week for sure.

Team Sjusjoen reunion dinner at Hotel Hagen. The opener? A mango and rocket salad, topped with Norwegian salmon and a citrus zest vinagrette. Good food. And good times.

All Best, 

-T.

Bridger S.F. Luminaries: Heather McPhie

One thing that makes Bridger Ski Foundation such a great organization is that they put serious support behind all kinds of skiing - alpine, nordic, freestyle, biathlon back in the day. I'm pretty sure if women's nordic combined ever made it to the five rings competition Bozeman would build a jump, start a team, and help support some serious talent for the red, white, and blue. Which brings us to Heather McPhie.

Heather McPhie is a talent just entering her prime. Just read that bio - a handful of World Cup wins, 3rd in last season's World Cup overall, requisite RedBull Sponsorship. Don't be surprised to see Heather sharing the cover of the Wheaties box later this spring. 

Action card layout by  DMLEUSCHEN DESIGN  from BSF's Countdown to Sochi Event

Bridger S.F. Luminaries: Hank Kashiwa

I first met Hank through his son, Hennie on the back porch of the Nystad brother's infamous Denver house. For a couple spring breaks during my University of Utah days I'd head to Denver (and perhaps the Black Hole, or some other Southern Utah locale for a desert adventure) to visit friends during a long weekend. What I remember most about Henni and Hank was how much energy both father and son had, and how great they were with guitars and lyrics. 

I first heard about the Yellowstone Club through Hank, the uber-exclusive resort on 13,600 acres outside Bozeman. Big hitters like Bill Gates, Justin Timberlake, Bill Murray and the like call the Yellowstone Club (probably one of many) homes away from home. At the time, I remember being, "Really, a place like the Yellowstone Club and a private world-class alpine resort only open to members could even exist?" Although I've still never been within the Yellowstone Club's pearly gates, I heard it really does exist.